How To Train Your Dog With Love And Science - Dog Training with Annie Grossman, School For The Dogs

This episode is a second conversation with Cherrie Mahon, with whom Annie spoke last year (Episode 45: Let's talk about dog breeding with Cherrie Mahon). During quarantine Cherrie, like many breeders, has been inundated with applications. She and Annie discuss how breeders are dealing with the deluge, and think about what this boom might mean in the future for both puppy mills and shelters. Annie also answers a question from a listener whose puppy is jumping up when she tries to prepare food at the kitchen counter.  Episode 45: Let's talk about dog breeding with Cherrie Mahon  Treat and Train - remote controlled treat dispenser and training tool --- Partial Transcript: Annie: If you are listening to this, at least if you’re listening to this around now, I’m recording this in late summer 2020. I am going to guess you fall into at least one of the following three categories, perhaps all three.  You have either recently gotten a puppy, you’ve thought about getting a puppy, or you know someone who has gotten a puppy, or is thinking about getting a puppy.  Okay, I guess that’s four categories. And I think that’s because puppies are the opposite of death, destruction, pandemics.  They can certainly cure depression.  And a good time to get a puppy is when you are going to be spending a lot of time home. I actually got my dog when I left a desk job. I spent exactly one year as a reporter at the New York Post, and I actually wrote their wedding section. I don’t know if they still have a wedding section. I wrote some other things there too, but that was my main gig. And I actually got fired. Well, it was kind of like a, I quit / You’re fired situation.  But the issue at hand wasn’t the quality or content of my work. It was that I was instant messaging too much. That’s how old I am.  I remember at the time thinking, “One day, this is going to seem hilarious, I have a feeling.” I wasn’t even sending, like, sexy instant messages or anything. I wasn’t talking to my boyfriend. I was either talking to other reporters who worked at other places, I think, or I was talking to my mom. And I certainly wasn’t the only one instant messaging, but I guess they needed some kind of scapegoat and wanted to crack down on this practice.  And Cole Allen, who was the editor in chief there at the time called me into his office.  And it was pretty terrifying. I remember, he had a print out like an inch high of my instant messages. And now here we are 15 years later, and basically all we all do is instant message. The president who’s instant messaging 200 times a day, also to other journalists, and my mom. Anyway, I’m telling the story only because after I left, after my ignominious departure from what was actually probably a very good job in right wing tabloid journalism, I started working from home. I was living in a ground floor apartment and in Brooklyn at the time.  It had a little garden outside, kind of the perfect place for a dog. So I was sort of thinking a little bit about getting a dog, but then what really made it happen was a guy I had dated for a few years, a boyfriend, I was like madly in love with him. He broke up with me and I was completely devastated. So I was sort of thinking a little bit about getting a dog, but then what really made it happen was a guy I had dated for a few years, a boyfriend, I was like madly in love with him. He broke up with me and I was completely devastated... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/podcasts

Last week, Annie looked a bit at the career of Dr. Stanley Coren, a writer who recently penned a Psychology Today article suggesting that one way to silence a barking dog is to clamp down on the dog's nose with your hand, like a mother wolf might do to try to silence a wolf pup. Ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff, who is a columnist for Psychology Today, penned a response saying that we need to consider the causes of dog behaviors we don't like, acknowledge that they're engaging in behaviors that might be appropriate in a different environment,  and then work at changing those behaviors with techniques that don't require that we attempt to school dogs as if we were one of them. Annie has a conversation with Dr. Bekoff, who discusses the Psychology Today article and explains why an ethological approach can shed so much light on the dogs who live in our homes, and beyond.  Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://amzn.to/2YssUxK Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Dog The Best Life Possible by Dr. Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce https://amzn.to/3j8L2ow A Quick Fix for a Barking Dog by Dr. Stanley Coren (Version edited post-publication) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/quick-fix-barking-dog  Original version of article can be found here.  https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/a-quick-fix-for-a-barking-dog-home-health-choices/  Do Dogs Bark Unnecessarily or Excessively? by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202008/do-dogs-bark-unnecessarily-or-excessively  The Herlihy Boy Dog Sitting Service (Saturday Night Live, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq7DbWsjX6A --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hey there. So last week I talked about the dog writer, Stanley Coren. He had a piece in Psychology Today where he basically suggested that the best way to get a dog to stop barking was to clamp down on the dog’s muzzle with your hand and say the word “quiet” to the dog, a method that he says mimics how a mother dog might quiet her pup. And in response to this article, Dr. Marc Bekoff wrote a really thoughtful essay saying, you know what, maybe we should be instead thinking about what's causing a dog to bark and see the situation from a dog's point of view, as best we can. And to acknowledge that they're basically captives in our world and we're asking them to live by our rules. And that most likely don't think about us as fellow dogs. So we probably don't need to be communicating to them as if we were dominant wolves in their pack. Anyway, it was a beautifully written response. So I reached out to Dr. Bekoff and I'm happy to share with you this conversation, which touches a little bit on Stanley Coren's article, but also went in some other interesting directions. I hope that you enjoy this episode. Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Looking for misguided information about dog training? Look no further than Psychology Today, which is publishing new articles that are offering outdated and possibly dangerous information. In this episode, Annie surveys the work of Dr. Stanley Coren, who recently suggested to the publication's readers that they should mimic wolves and clamp down on a dog's muzzle to stop barking. She reads from some of Dr. Coren's books on dogs from the early 1990s and also shares a comedy clip from the early 1990s on the topic of reading dog minds. Next week: An interview with Dr. Marc Bekoff.  Take Annie's free Master Class! http://anniegrossman.com/masterclass My Dog's Smarter Than Your Dog, by Sarah Boxer (NY Times Book Review, 1994) https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/05/books/my-dog-s-smarter-than-your-dog.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss/ Why Does a Reward During Training Change a Dog's Behavior? by Dr. Stanley Coren https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/why-does-reward-during-training-change-dogs-behavior A Quick Fix for a Barking Dog by Dr. Stanley Coren (Version edited post-publication) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/quick-fix-barking-dog Original version of article can be found here.   Do Dogs Bark Unnecessarily or Excessively? by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202008/do-dogs-bark-unnecessarily-or-excessively  Punishment as defined by Psychology Today  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/punishment Conan O'Brien 1993 clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FFyNyfOqQQ --- Partial Transcript: Annie: A few years ago, a cousin gave me a pile of books about dogs, all these used books that I think he'd gotten at a garage sale. They were all from the nineties. And one was called, What Do Dogs Know? One was The Pawprints of History: Dogs in the Course of Human Events. One was called The Intelligence of Dogs. And I kind of flipped through the books and thought, you know, okay, there's some dated information here, and there was some decent info here and there, but overall I found the books a little, I guess, a little boring. And I put them on my shelf of books that are dated and, but possibly interesting for future reference relating to all things dogs and dog training. I have a lot of books in this category, or not even books that are dated, just like I like old, weird books about dogs.  I like thinking about not only how people think about dogs now, but in the past. I guess I didn't really consider these books too much or the author, although I did remember seeing that he was a doctor, that he was a professor of psychology... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

We are obsessed with work-to-eat toys at School For The Dogs! Snuffle mats are one type of work-to-eat toy we recommend all the time. Made of fabric, they’re great for hiding dry food or treats. They pack well, are easy to wash, and you can even make them yourself. Annie talks about some of the ones sold at storeforthedogs.com and gives instructions on how to make your own. Products mentioned in this episode: The Buster Activity Mat Wooly Snuffle Mat Fleece Activity Mat The Hol-ee Roller More Snuffle Mats: here Check out DogNmat On Etsy Get in touch on Instagram: @schoolforthedogs -- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hey folks.  Today, I just wanted to talk a little bit about one of my favorite kinds of work to eat toys. As you might know if you've listened to this podcast before, we are huge fans of toys that give dogs jobs.  I like to joke that we're trying to solve the canine unemployment problem -- that if you can figure out a way to engage your dog’s brain and body, even if it's just their tongue or their paws during meal times, that it's a really good way to channel energy that might otherwise go towards activities that you might not be that into. So there are lots of different kinds of work to eat toys. And one of them is, the broad category would be called snuffle mats. Now this is kind of a newer sort of work to eat toy.  I think I first saw a snuffle mat maybe five or six years ago when we first started carrying the Buster Activity Mat.  Which I right away thought was like the coolest thing ever. It is a mat that is pretty heavy duty. It has snaps on it, with these components that you can snap on. And the components, kind of origami-style, can be folded and manipulated in different ways. They can be used separately from the mat.  It's very, very cool. It also comes in this adorable little turquoise duffle bag, which I like to use for things other than the mat sometimes, just because it's cute.  But it's neat because there are so many different ways you can use it, and it can travel really well. Now, snuffle mats in general are easy to pack, and some of them can be used in different kinds of ways, but the main component is that they're soft and you can hide dry food or dry treats in them in different ways.  They're not great for use with wet food.  Some of them you could even hide toys in them. So anyway, the Buster activity mat, I think, was my first introduction to the world of snuffle mats, or we sometimes also call them activity mats. And then, I think I was at a trade show when I first saw the Wooly Snuffle Mat.  And the Wooly is a much simpler product. It kind of just looks like a bath mat.  Like a bath mat with really plush, long tendrils.  It's gray, it -- you know, one thing I like about snuffle mats is they make me think of Snuffleupagus scoop is my favorite character on Sesame street... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

It's a golden moment for those wanting to eat outdoors with their dogs. Just think: There's so much outdoor dining! And people are keeping their distance from each other! And tables are spaced at a nice distance from each other! Annie gives some tips about how you can help train your dog to be the perfect outdoor-dining companion. Also: Learn what 1950s superstar very nearly became the real Lassie's owner.  Products mentioned in this episode:  Tricky Trainer's Crunchy Treats: https://storeforthedogs.com/search?q=crunchy+tricky Lamb lung: http://schoolforthedogs.com/ll Snuffle/Activity Mats: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/snuffle-mats VirChewLy Indestructible Leash: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/virchewly-industructable-leash-1  Found My Animal Leash: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/found-my-animal-1 Hands-Free Leash: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/squishy-face-studio/products/leash-belt SFTD Training Mat: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/school-for-the-dogs-training-mat Liquid Treat Dispenser: http://schoolforthedogs.com/ltd Frank Inn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkfLbHQl340 Episode 33: How to shape your dog to go to a mat https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-33-how-to-shape-your-dog-to-go-to-a-mat-and-to-be-a-polite-thanksgiving-guest/ Episode 66: Lassie’s Boy Sidekick: Meet Jon Provost, aka Timmy https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-66-lassies-boy-sidekick-meet-jon-provost-aka-timmy/  Episode 69: Mean Talk, mouse traps + water guns: Rudd Weatherwax's Lassie Method https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-69-mean-talk-mouse-traps-water-guns-the-lassie-method/  --  Partial Transcript: Annie: Guys. It's a really difficult time to be alive, to be a human right now.  There's so much that's wrong with the world.  But there's one, one silver lining that I just wanted to point out to anyone here who has a dog, which is probably you, if you're listening. This is an excellent time for dining out with your dog. I know different places have different rules, but I live in New York City and restaurants now have extended their outdoor seating areas into the streets and avenues, usually beyond the sidewalks.  The tables are spaced at least six feet apart.... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

A listener who is studying for the MCAT exam wrote in to ask if there were any dog training scenarios that could help illustrate some of the terms she needed to know for the psychology section of the exam. Annie, who has learned most of what she knows about dog training from working with dogs rather than from studying terms or taking exams, does her best to help make some "science-y" concepts more understandable through the lens of dog training and human behavior as we experience in everyday life. She talks about schedules of reinforcement, learned behaviors vs preinstalled behaviors, learning by observation and more.   Mentioned in this episode:   Excel-Erated Learning: Explaining In Plain English How Dogs Learn And How Best To Teach Them, by Pamela J. Reid  https://amzn.to/3fN3RfW  Don't Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor   https://amzn.to/2Mugnpc  Behavior Principles in Everyday Life by John D. Baldwin and Janice I. Baldwin  https://amzn.to/30jJxNH  Bobo Doll Experiment   https://www.britannica.com/event/Bobo-doll-experiment --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hello, human friends, Annie here.  As I've mentioned before, I've been recording mostly in my neighbor's apartment while he's out of town so that I can escape the craziness of my apartment, but he doesn't have air conditioning. So I couldn't deal with sitting in his apartment to record today. So I came back to my apartment to record after sweating profusely while trying to record down there. And then I realized you can't really have the air conditioning on anyway when you're recording a podcast because of the background noise, which made me think about all the sweaty podcasters working from home right now. So I blast the AC really, really high, just long enough to try and cool down the room while I record. So anyway, Hi! I wanted to respond to an interesting question. I got from a listener who has been in touch with me, uh, before Supriya is, uh, her name.  I might be saying it wrong. Supriya.  Such a pretty name that sounds like surprise. She wrote: “Hey Annie, I am currently studying for the psychology section of the MCAT, and while I've never heard of many things in this section before I am totally nailing the section on classical and operant conditioning, because I've been listening to your podcast for a while now.  I was wondering if you happen to have time before my exam in September, would you be able to expand on operant conditioning in terms of dog training, which is what makes sense to me. Specifically, I'm studying reinforcement schedules, innate versus learned behaviors, escape and avoidance learning, the Bobo doll experiment and associative versus non associative learning. Then there's also biological constraints on learning, which I'm studying specifically for humans. But I'm curious about this in dogs too. Of course, if you don't have time, this is completely okay.  Just thought I would ask considering I've learned so much from you already.” Isn't that a nice email to get, isn’t that a cool email to get? First of all, just wanted to say that I'm flattered that you feel that you've learned so much. And I'm amazed that anybody is asking me for MCAT advice... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

A few weeks ago, Annie interviewed Jon Provost, who played the little boy Timmy on the Lassie TV series in the 1950s and 60s. He talked a little bit about Rudd Weatherwax, who was Lassie's owner and trainer. Jon talked about how Weatherwax only trained with praise and rewards, and Annie described him as "progressive." After the episode aired, however, she found some old videos that showed training methods that suggested otherwise. In this episode, Annie reads from Weatherwax's 1971 book, The Lassie Method: Raising & Training Your Dog With Patience, Firmness & Love, and considers the pros and cons of his suggested training techniques.  Notes:  Free ebook on dog training techniques you can use on people: http://schoolforthedogs.com/people 1971 footage promoting the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMrD3wO2m0I The Lassie Method: Raising & Training Your Dog With Patience, Firmness & Love --- Partial Transcript: Annie: So a few weeks ago, I interviewed Jon Provost, the actor who played Timmy on the TV show Lassie when he was a kid. And we talked just a little bit in the episode about Lassie's trainer and owner, whose name was Rudd Weatherwax. And he was kind of a big deal in the world of commercial dog training in the early to mid 1900s. He trained Asta for The Thin Man. He trained Toto for The Wizard of Oz, but Rudd Weatherwax wasn't really the focus of the interview. And, you know, I admit in some episodes I have more of an agenda than in other episodes. Some episodes of this podcast, I am just interviewing people who have done interesting things with dogs or are working with dogs. I like stories about people and dogs, and I like sharing those stories, but of course I am dog trainer.  I am opinionated. I have very specific points of view on the subject matter. But two things.  One, I think I just assumed that someone who spent so much time on set with a dog and their trainer would be able to recognize what they were doing as far as training goes. Like I think I just take for granted at this point that someone could break down what someone's training methods are or what their approach is. But in reality, I know things can seem kind of opaque when you're watching training happening. And if you don't know what to look for or what you might not want to be seeing. I mean, I don't know. Also I'm talking to a man who is recollecting things that happened 60 years ago when he was a kid. The other thing of course, being that Rudd Weatherwax maybe really was all praise and reward with Lassie on set or whenever Lassie was with Jon Provost.  They worked together very closely for many, many years, the dog who played Lassie and Rudd Weatherwax.  Interestingly, they only ever had one Lassie at a time.  I learned that speaking with Jon.  Anyway, that dog, whichever Lassie it was at the time, and Rudd Weatherwax I'm guessing had a very strong bond. And I'm sure that that dog was tuned into understanding what Rudd Weatherwax wanted with very, very little force or coercion necessary because they had such a history working together. And also, because again this is me guessing, that they did a lot of training for him to learn new things off set. So by the time they got onset, it was more about maintaining those behaviors, which could be done using positive reinforcement. Cause that's the way that you're going to encourage behaviors that you want to keep happening. And if you're doing something on a set in front of a camera where they might do several takes, you want behaviors that are going to keep happening... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Before she became a dog trainer, Annie assumed that understanding dogs' supposed obsession with dominance was an important part of being a good trainer. She pushed her 18-pound Yorkiepoo into alpha rolls so he'd know she was boss. She yelled in his face, and made sure he never entered through a doorway before her, because Cesar Millan said that that would make the dog think he was the one in charge.  The whole idea that dog behavior, and the way dogs learn, had anything to do with science simply did not compute; the notion of them existing in a kind of Lord-Of-The-Flies quest for supreme power seemed plausible and not something worth reconsidering. After graduating dog training school, her thoughts on "dominance" shifted 180 degrees. Now,  ten years spent working as a professional trainer, they've shifted yet again... Bonus Q+A: Pizza the mini goldendoodle (@the_pizza_dood) is obsessed with stealing collapsible water bowls at the park. Annie suggests a three pronged approach to curing him of the habit of destroying silicone water bowls that belong to other dogs. Products mentioned in this episode: The Zisc Flying Disc by West Paw https://storeforthedogs.com/products/zisc-flying-disc West Paw Toys https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/west-paw-designs Collapsible Slow Food Bowl https://storeforthedogs.com/products/collapsible-slow-food-bowl Learn more about Parvene Farhoudy http://behaviormatters.com/about-parvene-farhoody/ Books by Raymond Coppinger Dogs (with Lorna Coppinger) https://amzn.to/2UuJUzA What Is A Dog (with Lorna Coppinger) https://amzn.to/30mDhTZ How Dogs Work (with Mark Feinstein) https://amzn.to/32qcXuV The (now embarrassing) 2007 article Annie wrote in The NY Times about people wanting to become dog trainers: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/fashion/27DOGS.html --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hello, human friends, and dog listeners, woof to you. I wanted to talk today about dominance. So in the three decades of life that I lived before becoming a dog trainer, I am pretty sure that I thought the word dominant was as much a part of dog training as boiling water was to cooking. It was just an essential part of the whole thing that was dog training. Dog training at that time being something that I think I thought of as, you know, something that happens when you sign up for a class or you hire a professional, and that dog training wasn't happening really outside of those times... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts/

Nothing makes people want puppies quite like a global pandemic! Those who are raising puppies during quarantine may face some challenges when it comes to socialization. But, if you succeed at doing a good job with it -- if you can clear the unusual hurdles that new dog owners have to face right now -- you will be paving the way for a great future for your dog and while developing your own training abilities. Annie discusses what socialization is, how to spot signs of possible stress, and how to start at "criteria: zero" in order to build new and appropriate behaviors (and keep bad ones from happening). She talks about using food in socialization, using the right toys, and making use of sounds and objects you might be able to find in your home and enlisting neighbors in a safe way. She also talks about how to help your young dog get adequate puppy playtime, even if that means you... have to pretend to be a puppy. FREE EBOOK on The Dog Training Triad: http://schoolforthedogs.com/triad Get access to our private Facebook Group with the purchase of any of our new self-paced online courses. See http://schoolforthedogs.com/courses Additional resources: Annie's webinar on raising a puppy during quarantine: https://event.webinarjam.com/go/replay/81/k6v60c91ulrt9oi1 Dog Body Language Demonstated By A Human with Em Beauprey: https://event.webinarjam.com/go/replay/148/k6v60c5vhns2s1 First Episode of The Dog Whisperer featuring Nunu and Kane (both being flooded -- but lots of good examples of stress signals): https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x72q489 More on Slow Food Bowls: https://storeforthedogs.com/blogs/news/extend-the-joy-of-your-dogs-mealtime-with-slow-food-bowls K9 Sports Sack: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/k9-sport-sack-rover-backpack-1 Flirt Poles: https://storeforthedogs.com/products/flirt-poles --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hey everyone. So lots of people have gotten puppies in the last few months during quarantine, which I’m super excited about.  But the truth is, while the crazy world pandemic we’re living through might mean that you have more time to spend at home with your puppy, which by and large is a very good thing, it also means that there are some very real challenges that you may be facing that really might make things harder than they would be for a puppy owner getting a puppy in more normal times.  You might not have the support system around you that you used to have. You might not have access to safe places that you can go with your puppy outside of your home. You’re probably dealing with financial stress. You might be having to move unexpectedly. You might get sick.  But you know, all of this is to say that if you can get through having a puppy during quarantine, you know, it’s kind of like I tell my clients, if your puppy can make it here, he can make it anywhere. In New York City. Same thing with this. If you can get you and your new puppy through this difficult period in the right ways, you’re really going to be setting yourself up for a life together that is going to be enjoyable... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Jon Provost was the boy sidekick to the 20th Century's most-loved dog: Lassie. In the late 1950s and early 1960s a third of American households tuned in each week to watch Lassie, a whip-smart Collie, help Timmy get out of countless pickles. Lassie came to define the "perfect" dog. In this episode Provost, who is now 70, talks about working with a dog star, and about what he learned from Lassie's rather progressive trainer/owner, the famous Hollywood dog trainer Rudd Weatherwax. He and Annie also discuss his early exposure to the notion of a "therapy" dog, and his more recent work to bring attention to rescue dogs, Army dogs, and more.  Annie ends the episode by reflecting on how Lassie impacted our cultural notions about dogs, perhaps not for the better, and reads from Jean Donaldson's book Culture Clash, about the Disney-fication of dogs and how a desire to anthropomorphize "man's best friend" has led to some huge errors in the way people attempt to train and understand the dogs who live with us.  If you're enjoying School For The Dogs Podcast, please subscribe to it, rate it, and leave a review!  Jean Donaldson's Culture Clash: https://amzn.to/2KNwH2n JonProvost.com Timmy's In The Well: The Jon Provost Story https://amzn.to/2ZAVxbL Get a free eBook: Three Secret Keys To Dog Training Success when you register for Annie's Free Master Class! http://anniegrossman.com/masterclass You can find some old episodes of Lassie on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HluWrXiVNks Rudd Weatherwax's obituary: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-02-26-me-25026-story.html --- Partial Transcript: Annie: 60 years ago, there was a TV show that was so popular, it's estimated it was watched in a third of American households each week. Its star, whose name was Baby, was a guy playing the role of a girl -- a nonhuman girl. That girl was, of course, Lassie. [Whistling - Lassie theme] Baby has long since left us. The show is only on in reruns.  And today, most people have not heard of Lassie's famous trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, who was responsible for many of the 20th century's most famous dog actors, but last year, his best friend is still around and still hanging out with dogs like it's his job.  Today, I have for you an interview with Jon Provost who played Timmy on the show Lassie for most of his childhood.  He spoke to me about Weatherwax’s progressive and positive reinforcement based training methods, what it was like to grow up off camera with Lassie, and about his continued work with dogs. Fun fact, did you know there was actually never an episode where Timmy fell in a well, can you believe that? Before we get started, I just wanted to suggest that you go check out my brand new one hour long master class. It's called “Three simple things every dog owner needs to know to teach a dog quickly and easily without, force, pain, a major time investment or fancy equipment.”  It's a presentation where I talk about how I got into dog training, how it kind of revolutionized how I see the world. You'll learn to think about the way your dog learns, specifically wow to think about the way in which your dog is learning thanks to classical conditioning all the time... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

In an ideal world, dogs would all be trained to be able to be alone. It would be a process of shaping a behavior, and helping your dog make good associations with being without you. But, in the real world, not everyone can take the time to acclimate a dog to alone time. Annie talks about the "cry it out" method and some of the tools that are used to punish the behaviors that can occur when a dog is stressed about being alone, and their potential fall out. She also gives a few strategies you can use when you really just have to leave your dog before you are sure he can handle it, and discusses what it means when we get rid of a behavior using extinction. Support School For The Dogs by shopping in our online store!  Products mentioned in this episode. Treat n' Train - https://storeforthedogs.com/products/treat-train Treat Separation Anxiety In Dogs by Malena DiMartini Scholarship Fund mosaic: http://schoolforthedogs.com/mosaic Master Class can be found at anniegrossman.com/masterclass NYDogShare.com Also listen to:  Episode 26 | Teach a foolproof DROP and COME using Classical Conditioning Episode 59 | Separation Anxiety Expert Malena DeMartini on Helping Dogs Learn To Be Alone --- Partial Transcript: Annie: I am in my neighbor's apartment. This has become my backup recording studio.  And my neighbor is a wonderful man I have known my entire life. He has a lot of stuff. He has a lot of stuff. I don't think he would disagree with that statement. And right next to the desk where I've been recording in order to seek some quiet, because my apartment is not quiet very often with my little daughter, right, running around.  Right next to the spot in his apartment, where I sit is a dead cockroach that's been dead on its back for, uh, the last few months and has remained unmoved. And I feel like I've been paying homage to this dead cockroach. Like we've been sharing space with him in his death, me still alive. You know, I don't think I ever saw him when he was alive, but he did live in my building. I thought about picking him up. But then I started to feel like he was some kind of symbol.  Not as cute as like a rabbit's foot, but actually kind of less gross. And, you know, people have taxidermied animals that they keep around.  Right now, I'm just coexisting with a dead cockroach. [Intro and music] Annie: So I've been getting a lot of questions relating to separation, which I guess could be sort of seen as predictable seeing that there's been a period of people being home a lot with their dogs. And now perhaps a period of us being less at home with our dogs.  And a lot of people who have gotten dogs in the interim period, this like COVID 19 puppy and adoption boom that we seem to have seen. And so I wanted to talk a little bit about how I think about separation and the various options of how you can deal with it. And you know, I should say that separation is such a frustrating issue.  And if you've listened to this podcast before you might've heard the episode I did with Malena Dimartini, who is probably the separation anxiety dog training expert out there... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Before Annie became a dog trainer, she assumed all dogs were trained using "commands" and cues were for... pool games and stage actors. In this episode, she talks about the difference between cues and commands, describes the process of adding a cue, noticing cues, changing cues, and more.  Enjoy School For The Dogs Podcast? Please leave a 5-star rating on iTunes and a review!  Notes:  Find Annie's new MasterClass at http://anniegrossman.com/masterclass A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court https://amzn.to/2Yectpg Episode 19: How To Train A Dog To Sit From Scratch https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-19-how-to-train-a-dog-to-sit-from-scratch/ Episode 40: Teaching A Stellar Down With A Verbal Or Visual Cue https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/13927/ --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Mark Twain, satirist of the 19th century, one of my favorite writers, wrote the book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. And it’s a story about–it’s a time travel story about a guy who gets bonked on the head and wakes up and thinks at first that he’s in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but actually he’s gone back in time from the 1800s to King Arthur’s court and he’s in Camelot. He gets himself into trouble there, he’s going to be burned at the stake. And then he realizes that he had learned in school that in the year 528, the year that he’s found himself in, there was a solar eclipse. So he predicts this natural event, and he makes everyone believe that he caused it. I think about this book sometimes when I’m thinking about the process of adding a cue to a behavior that we want our dogs to know. Now, before I first went to  dog trainer school, I referred to commands. You gave your dog a command and the dog followed the command or not. It would have never occurred to me to call it anything other than a command. Instead, I was encouraged to think about how we can cue a dog to do the thing we want. Now, at first I understood the reason as, like we don’t want to be coercing dogs and it is coercive if you’re commanding something, because it’s like, you’re saying do this, or else. There’s an implied or else. And you know, that made sense to me, but I also thought that, you know, it would be possible to command and then reward. So maybe it was just too narrow a reading of the word command. But then I started to understand that the notion that we are commanding a dog to do something really gives us way too much credit. We are sometimes cueing a dog to do something perhaps on purpose, but perhaps not on purpose. And it would be funny to call that a command.  Dogs do things all the time because of things that we do that we might not have actually wanted our dog to do. You wouldn’t call that command, but it might be some kind of cue to your dog, if your dog is perceiving it.  What’s more, there are lots of cues that your dog is perceiving that have nothing to do with you. They are learning cues from the environment, all around them, from each other, from things we might not even be perceiving. Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts

Thirty years ago, a vet told Susan Thixton that dog food had given her dog bone cancer, and the dog had two weeks to live.  "That day changed my life," she said. She dove into researching pet food, and found an industry doing its best to keep its practices opaque to pet owners. Too often, she discovered, we are literally feeding our dogs garbage. In the decades since, Susan has become a full time blogger on the subject and a consumer advocate, lobbying to try to improve the quality of the food we feed our pets. She and Annie discuss the difference the precise definitions of terms like "food" and "feed,"  "with" and "meal," and Susan reveals what she feels is the single most important thing to look for when selecting a pet food. This episode may forever change how you think about dog food.  Sign up for Annie's new Master Class!  http://anniegrossman.com/masterclass Notes:  This conversation was recorded as a webinar, a replay of which can be found here. TruthAboutPetFood.com: What is feed grade and human grade pet food? Learn the differences. TruthAboutPetFood.com: Pet food ingredients differ from human food ingredients. TruthAboutPetFood.com: Learn how to add some real food to your pet’s diet. TruthAboutPetFood.com: 2020 List Of Preferred Foods Association For Truth In Pet Food Dr. Becker's Real Food For Healthy Dogs & Cats PlanetPaws.ca's food recipes Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua In The Coal Mine by Marion Nestle Dr. Judy Morgan's naturally healthy Pets Recipes EvermorePetFood.com BalanceIt.com  --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hello, Sue, why don't you just go ahead and introduce yourself. Susan Thixton: I'm Susan Thixton. I run the website TruthAboutPetFood.com, and run a consumer stakeholder organization association for truth in pet food, providing food consumers with a voice at pet food regulatory meetings, and with FDA, when they choose to listen to us.  It's strictly their ballgame and sometimes they listen to us and sometimes they don't. Annie: Now I first found you through your blog Truth About Pet Food. Did the associations start the blog or vice versa? Susan: Truth About Pet Food started first and I was going to AFCO meetings and wanted to ask them for an advisory position to where, you know, I could give them consumer opinion more than just being in the audience. And they denied me year after year. And when a president, former president, finally went off the board of directors, he told me that the trick is we didn't want a blogger to be an advisor to AFCO. Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts/

Last week in New York City a white woman called the cops on a black man, saying he was threatening her life. Really, he just wanted her to obey Central Park's leash laws. In this episode, Annie attempts to dissect the altercation from a dog trainer's point of view, talking about everything from how we should use leashes, to how the man used an interesting combination of treats and negative reinforcement to get the woman to leash the dog.  Through the lens of dog behavior and training, we can also spot how fear, caused by ignorance or wrong associations or both, can lead to awful actions. Annie also talks about the animal-training concepts of "trigger stacking," her own "learned helplessness" when it comes to affecting change by voting, and her ongoing efforts to take a stance, one poop bag at a time.    Get our free house training guide: Http://SchoolForTheDogs.com/house Notes:  The Amy Cooper/Christian Cooper video   https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/05/29/amy-cooper-white-woman/  Mendota Leashes https://storeforthedogs.com/products/braided-leash  Found My Animal leashes  https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/found-my-animal/products/found-my-animal-leash-1 Coercion And Its Fallout by Murray Sidman  https://behavior.org/product/coercion-and-its-fallout-2/ Donald Trump Poop Bags https://storeforthedogs.com/products/copy-of-irreverent-poopbags-assorted-selection --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hey everyone. I recorded this episode over a week ago, before riots broke out all around the country. The episode is about the incident that happened just before George Floyd was killed in another part of the country in New York City. It felt to me, you know, I'm in New York, it felt like a local incident took place more or less than in School for the Dog's backyard. And I didn't expect it to go viral, but it did because it's about race and racism and white privilege. And then George Floyd's killing suddenly made this New York City incident seem all the more sinister and terrible. This isn't a podcast about race. But the reason I felt like I wanted to say something about the New York incident is because in the middle of these two people, one of whom was black, one of whom was white, there was literally a dog and no one else is talking that much about the dog, which makes sense. There's a lot to unpack here that has nothing to do with the dog, but this is a podcast about dogs and about dog training. And so I felt I wanted to talk about the dog and to do so without so much touching on the much larger issues going on because I'm not a political commentator or an activist. I am a white woman who owns a small business. I think Black Lives Matter and I'm depressed and frightened to be living in a world where we even need to point out that black lives matter. All weekend, I lay in bed, holding my daughter and listening to helicopters and sirens overhead. And I just felt helpless. And if you've listened to this podcast before you obviously know that I like to try and spot the dog training lessons in the world we live in because so much of our lives is about changing our own behavior or trying to change other people's behavior.  Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts/

When Ken Ramirez is not training elephants to avoid poachers, teaching dogs to count, coaxing polar bears out of suburban garbage cans or getting butterflies to fly on cue, he is mentoring and educating dog trainers. Ken is the Executive Vice President and public face of Karen Pryor Clicker Training, which operates the Karen Pryor Academy, among other things. In this episode, he and Annie discussed his new book of essays, how he almost got The Dog Whisperer's time slot, the existence of free will, sleep training a baby and more.  Get our guide to making walks more fun:  Http://SchoolForTheDogs.com/funwalks Notes: The Eye Of The Trainer: Animal Training, Transformation and Trust, by Ken Ramirez - On My Mind: Reflections on Animal Behavior and Learning, by Karen Pryor - Ken Ramirez on Hannah Brannigan's Drinking From The Toilet Podcast - Ken Ramirez on Ryan Cartlidge's Animal Training Academy Podcast - KenRamirezTraining.com - Ken's Letters - Training Lessons From Pokemon Go - Talk To The Animals clip -  Find the ukulele-duo Toast Garden on Youtube!  If you're enjoying this podcast, please subscribe, rate, and review!  --- Partial Transcript: *Intro* Annie: So if you are a professional animal trainer or aspiring to be a professional animal trainer, I'm guessing that you've probably heard of my guest today. If you're not, you probably haven't.  Whether you're in one of those categories or the other, I am really excited to get to share this conversation with you with this pretty remarkable man. Now, I normally like to ask people how they first got into the field of animal training or dog training in particular, but I didn't go into that with my guests today only because there were so many things I wanted to talk to him about, and you can also get his backstory on a couple other great podcasts, including the Animal Training Academy Podcast with Ryan Cartlidge and Hannah Brannigans podcast, Drinking from the Toilet. The short version is he grew up on a ranch, began volunteering, working with a guide dog organization when he was still a teenager, and then kind of lucked into a job working with exotic animals, which then helped mold his choices of what to study in college. He then spent more than two decades working at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where he eventually was the Executive Vice President of Animal Care. And well, I'm just gonna let him introduce himself and talk about what he's doing now. Ken Ramirez: My name is Ken Ramirez and I am the executive vice president and chief trading officer for Karen Pryor Clicker Training. And I have been training, gosh, for over 40 years now.  Worked in the zoological field. I work as a consultant for zoos and aquariums.  I work as a consultant for search and rescue dogs and law enforcement and guide dogs.  And I do a lot of work in the conservation arena, so I have a lot of interests and I keep very busy. Full transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts